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WASHINGTON — The way Tom Tancredo sees it, he got to live out a scene from his favorite movie.

In the classic Western "Rio Bravo," Ricky Nelson and John Wayne fight a battle against the movie's bad guys. To draw their opponents out, Nelson fires a shot and says: "That ought to start something." It does, with the gunfight resuming.

Tancredo fired metaphorical shots as a congressman from Littleton.

By repeatedly making provocative statements during his 10 years in Congress, Tancredo believes he spurred activism and helped block legislation that would have allowed illegal immigrants to eventually gain legal status.

"I've been responsible for moving an issue — immigration reform — farther than any member

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